In Norway, the trial began on Tuesday in the case of the conditional release of mass murderer Anders Breivik. He is serving a sentence for the 2011 terrorist attacks in Oslo and on the island of Utöya, which killed 77 people. TASR informs about it according to the report of the press agency DPA.
Breivik (45) has asked the court for conditional release for the second time. However, his chances of success are considered low. The hearing is being held in a gymnasium at the high-security Ringerike prison, which has been converted into a temporary courtroom. When entering, Breivik carried a sign with several political messages. Later he waved with his right hand in greeting.
“I’m not human. I haven’t been human for 13 years,” he said upon arrival. He described himself as a “collectivist” and a “political soldier” who continues to serve his “faction”. The letter “Z” could be seen above the right ear on his otherwise bald head, indicating Russia’s support for military aggression against Ukraine.
When asked what he would do if he was released, Breivik replied that he wanted to leave Norway as soon as possible if the authorities allowed him to do so. The court first heard the prosecutor Hulda Olsen Karlsdottir, he will have the opportunity to speak later.
On July 22, 2011, Breivik committed the most serious crime in Norway’s post-war history. First he planted a bomb in the government quarter in Oslo – the explosion killed eight people. In about two hours, it moved to the island of Utöya, roughly 40 kilometers northwest of Oslo. There he shot 69 mostly young people who were at the summer camp of the youth organization of the Social Democratic Labor Party (AP). He justified the mass murder with right-wing extremist and Islamophobic motives.
In 2012, he was sentenced to 21 years in prison, at the time the most severe sentence in Norway, which can be extended if he is considered a threat to society. For more than 12 years, he has been kept separately from other prisoners in high-security facilities.
After serving the minimum term of 10 years, he unsuccessfully applied for parole in early 2022. The Ringerike, Askeru and Baerum District Court, which now has official jurisdiction over him, has scheduled a hearing in his case for three days until Thursday.
